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Tuesday, August 7, 2012

A little while ago I promised you some roasted portobello burgers once it got cooler. It is only slightly cooler, but I couldn't resist because this is probably one of our favorite meatless burger alternatives.

Portobello is a very flavorful, meaty mushroom which makes it a good base for a burger. Its texture is firm, so it can withstand and be much improved by potent marinades that you would for instance use to marinade a steak, with ingredients like garlic, balsamic vinegar, rosemary, among others. In this recipe I used a balsamic vinegar and olive oil mixed with a few spices, but as always, feel free to experiment with your own seasonings.

The roasted onions go really well with the portobello burgers. I was going to top these off with some mozzarella cheese and a few toppings like tomato or pickles, but Tony - who had been patiently waiting while I was photographing these - finally came in the room seemingly hungry. So I quickly finished up before these got cold and we just gulped them down as they were, with a little ketchup. Nothing else was needed.

Directions:
1. Carefully trim off the stems at the base of the mushrooms. Discard the stems or use them elsewhere, leaving only the caps. Carefully rinse the caps under a trickle of water, gently rubbing off any dirt with your fingers so as not to rub off the skin.
2. In a measuring cup, combine balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic, parsley, salt, pepper and paprika. Pour a bit of the marinade over the gills of the mushrooms. Place the mushrooms gill side down together with the onion slices in a flat-bottomed dish and pour the rest of the marinade over them. Cover and refrigerate for 40 minutes to 1 hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 400ºF/205ºC. Line a baking sheet with foil and grease with a bit of olive oil. Place the mushrooms, gill side down, along with the onions on the baking sheet and cover with foil loosely. Bake, 30-40 minutes, until the mushrooms are tender. Serve on buns with the onions, along with your preferred burger toppings.

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comments:

I never thought of marinating portobellos, that is really a great idea. Sometimes I really think I could go vegetarian for a while. Excellent pictures Kat! I end up eating much of my food colder than I should.

Yay, portobello burgers--those look so great! I live with a mushroom-hater, so the portobello burgers are few and far between at our house. I should probably set myself up for some solo mushroom lunches during the week!

Oh GOD that looks good...! ::drools:: I love mushrooms and I've only once had a mushroom burger while fasting (otherwise I'm a beef burger girl, but quality beef, quality burgers, not McDonald's crap ::shudder::)...I'll have to revisit the 'shroom burger with this yumorama recipe!